McEvoy finally wins European Tour title

HAMBURG: English veteran Richard McEvoy held his nerve to birdie the last hole and win the European Open on Sunday, his first career triumph in his 285th tour event.

The 39-year-old finished on 11 under par for a one-shot victory over Sweden’s Christofer Blomstrand, Renato Paratore of Italy and German amateur Allen John.

John, who is profoundly deaf, carded a five under par final round of 67, the best of the day.“It’s incredible,” McEvoy told europeantour.com of his long-awaited victory. “I’ve waited a long time, 17 years as a pro on and off the tour. I’m absolutely over the moon.”

In a tense finish, Blomstrand and Paratore both birdied the last four rounds of 68 and 70 respectively to join John on 278 for the championship and when McEvoy bogeyed the 17th, there was a four-way tie for the lead.

But McEvoy held his nerve, sinking a tricky putt for victory.“I fought hard, I believed. I’ve tried to enjoy my golf as much as possible,” he said.Meanwhile, John said he was overjoyed at his finish despite narrowly missing out on a play-off with McEvoy and that being deaf is something to which he has become accustomed.

“It’s just been a part of me since I can think of, I’ve tried to make the best of it,” said the 30-year-old, who has been wearing hearing aids since he was two.

“You get a lot of self-confidence with handling a situation like that. I’m pretty good round that now.“It’s pretty cool, when something is annoying me, I can just go offline and everybody is thinking ‘is he even listening?’ and I’m like, ‘okay, I’m offline’. It has a few advantages.”